History, Memory and Iranian-Armenian Memoirs of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution

This research aims to analyze the collective memory of the conflict in Aceh and the formation of collective memory in the novel Kawi Matin di Negeri Anjing by Arafat Nur. This research uses Maurice Halbwachs' collective memory theory approach. This study employs a descriptive qualitative research method, which aims to address the research focus by providing detailed descriptions of the data. The research results show a collective memory of the conflict events in Aceh in the novel. The novel shapes collective memory through the portrayal of characters, the impact of the social environment, and the reconstruction of history. The findings show that literary works, especially novels, function as a medium that can reflect and preserve collective memory. Novels not only describe an event but also serve as a tool to build a group's identity and collective memory.

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the significance of martyrdom and suffering in struggles over collective memory in contemporary Transcarpathian Ukraine and beyond. Through an analysis of the discourses of suffering that developed around the canonisation process of the so-called priests-martyrs-votaries of faith (sviashchenniki-muchenniky-ispovidnyki viry), I show that the notion of suffering under the Soviet regime is mobilised to strengthen the moral authority of the Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia, either as a whole or with regard to particular factions within this organisation. Suffering is instrumentalised in the internal politics of this church and it can be used both to legitimise and to challenge the church’s authority. Moreover, the experience of suffering forms a part of autobiographical memory among Transcarpathian believers; at the same time, it quickly becomes a part of collective memory in Maurice Halbwachs’ sense (see Olick and Robbins 1998, 111). In this article, I address the following questions: how do present collective and autobiographical memory, as well as Greek Catholic commemoration practices referring to religious activities from the Soviet times, shape and are shaped by internal church politics in Transcarpathia? Which survival strategy in times of repression is nowadays seen as crucial for contemporary Eastern Catholicism in this region?

This is a qualitative study that examines the changes in the name of the Supervisory Censor Sun’s Former Residence in the context of its history from the Ming Dynasty to the present day, and the transformation and significance of the social memory of the Residence as it has changed under different social systems. The researcher used Maurice Halbwachs’ social memory theory to explain the social memories about the Residence from the Ming Dynasty to the present. Data were collected from the review on local literatures in Lianjiang County, a field study of the Residence, and interviews with key informants who used to live in the Residence. It is shown that the Supervisory Censor Sun’s Former Residence signifies power. The changes in the Residence name are closely related to changes in the social system. The Residence shapes different social memories under different social systems, and the social memories about the Residence have been constantly transformed with the development and change of social systems.

This study aims to analyze more deeply the collective memory of Bugis weaver community in Pagatan through the form of creating weavers’ works that are not only a residue of the past, but also as a representation of the memories collected for their sustainable cultural identity. This research is based on Bugis community in Pagatan as an illustration of diaspora community that continues to carry out its traditions from their ancestors. This research uses qualitative methods, namely observation, in-depth interviews, and FGD (Focus Group Discussion). The purposive technique is carried out to identify informants that have been determined based on the research objectives. This study was analyzed using Maurice Halbwachs’ collective memory theory which said that collective memory embedded in the collective mind of the community forms the story of the past as part of the social identity of the community. This research finds that the systematic sequence of the past is like a collection of threads that are intertwined at a certain time, woven into one and cannot be separated from the present point of view. This research concludes that weavers are also able to manage its collective memory by expressing it through forms of Pagatan Weaving motifs as a strategy to survive its identity.

Similarly to historiography, war crimes trials, novels or movies, the press can be considered as a ‘vector’ of collective memory (Wood, 1999). Maurice Halbwachs (1992) sees collective memory as performative — that is, a reconstruction and an appropriation of the past used to meet or influence present needs. Accordingly, collective memory emerges at specific times and places often through institutionalised memorial activities such as special observances meant to mark an important social or historical event. The press, then, is one of the primary modes through which collective memory is transmitted across generations. The media, as agents of diffusion of social memory, can participate in the regulation of its strength and intensity in the public space. It is not only a primary means of revitalisation and enrichment of collective and individual memories but it can also be a potential source of frustration. Owing to their role as channels of memory and agents of information, the media play an important role in memory construction as collectors and transmitters of past and current events, and perhaps more importantly, the interpretation of those events. The diachronic analysis of state discourse and articles published in the Cameroonian state-affiliated and controlled newspapers enables one to apprehend the evolution of the historical and political representations of the radical nationalist party called the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) and the political use of its past by the political authorities from 1960 onwards.

The term collective memory refers to group representations of the past that inform action in the present. The original theorist of collective memory is Maurice Halbwachs, who treated collective memory as a central component of a group's collective consciousness. As noted by Jeffrey Olick (2007), Halbwachs's treatment of collective memory had two dimensions. First, he used the term to describe the social origins of individual memory. In contrast to psychological perspectives, which treated memory as an individual phenomenon, Halbwachs argued that all forms of memory, even the most personal, are socially framed. Second, Halbwachs, following Emile Durkheim, treated collective memory as a social fact. Even though they can inform individual memory, collective memories exist independently of individual biography in the form of commemorations, archives, rituals, and other mnemonic practices. In this sense, collective memory is a social construction that embodies a group's identity. The concept of collective memory allows social scientists to describe the way that the constructed past can direct the formation and development of groups and institutions. This also distinguishes collective memory from related terms such as history. Unlike the concept of history, which in some sense stands outside of human action, collective memories are generated by groups and institutions. They orient action in the present, but they also construct the past so as to embody the concerns of the present. For this reason, both the form and the content of collective memory changes across time and place. This is also where collective memory studies overlap with the topic of globalization. As a distinct form of social organization, globalization impacts both the form and content of collective memories.

Memory is a major theme in contemporary life, a key to personal, social, and cultural identity. Philosophers have long regarded continuity of memory as an essential quality of personhood. But personal and collective identity are intimately linked. Classical works such as Maurice Halbwachs's The Collective Memory, and Sir Frederick Bartlett's Remembering highlight the social nature of what we usually take to be individual memory, an insight reinforced by research on the historical consciousness of non-literate peoples.Sir Frederick Bartlett, Remembering (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1932); Maurice Halbwachs, The Collective Memory, Francis and Vida Ditter, trans. (New York: Harper Collins, 1980). For excellent descriptive and theoretical overviews of the problems that Halbwachs opened up, see Paul Connerton, How Societies Remember (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989) and James Fentress and Chris Wickham, Social Memory (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1992). Here I will explore, in comparative perspective, the social processes through which personal memory becomes collectivized and collective memory is instantiated through autobiographical recollection.

The idea of “collective memory” has attracted substantial attention since Maurice Halbwachs’ path-breaking work in the 1920s. Recently we have started to notice references, at an increasing pace, to a global(ised) version of collective memory. This essay argues that “global collective memory”, especially in light of Halbwachs’ original understanding, is not a particularly strong or promising concept. First, the essay discusses three kinds of memory, namely individual, organisational, and institutional, and juxtaposes them with the idea of collective memory. Then it turns more specifically to a discussion of the global scale, and suggests that the intricate connections between these different types acquire a new degree of complexity when transposed to the global level due to the questions of politics and identity. The essay suggests further that a global memory, conceptualised with reference to its institutional rather than collective characteristics, may well be in the making.

The title of this volume, On Media Memory, echoes, of course, Maurice Halbwachs’ seminal work On Collective Memory (1992/1925, 1980/1950), but it also denotes the uniqueness of this volume: alongside the numerous works that are devoted to the systematic exploration of ‘collective memory’ and the increasing prevalence of this concept (or, at times catchphrase) in public discourse, this book brings ‘Media’ and ‘Mediation’ — both with capital Ms — to the forefront of the scholarly inquiry of collective recollecting. While memory researchers often look at media outlets in order to explore the field of collective memory, and media scholars increasingly investigate the role of collective memory in shaping the news, films, new-media contents and more, this book wishes to offer a comprehensive and integrative view of this theme. That is, this collection conceptualizes and probes Media Memory — not merely as a channel or process but rather as a phenomenon in itself.

This study investigates the role of the Monument of Sultan Himayatuddin Muhammad Saidi (Oputa Yi Koo) in shaping collective memory and social identity among the Butonese community in Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach grounded in Maurice Halbwachs' collective memory theory, this study explores how spatial representation, symbolic design, and everyday social practices interact to produce and sustain collective memory. Data were collected through direct observations, visual documentation, and in-depth interviews with local cultural leaders, government officials, and residents. The findings reveal that the monument serves as a socio-symbolic artifact that revives marginalized historical narratives and provides a platform for communal reflection. It becomes a site where the past is reconstructed through present-day needs, reinforcing group identity, while remaining open to reinterpretation and contestation. While many perceive the monument as a source of pride and cultural revival, divergent interpretations of official narratives and community-based memory highlight the collective remembrance's dynamic, negotiated nature. This study argues that monuments are not merely passive heritage objects, but active discursive spaces that mediate identity formation, historical consciousness, and symbolic politics. This research contributes to broader discussions on cultural memory, spatial politics, and heritage making, offering practical insights for inclusive public space design rooted in local historical consciousness.

This article attempts to theorise governmental efforts of the Kagame regime to construct a common national identity that precariously hinges on the adoption of an official revisionist history. Guided by Jan Assmann’s theory of cultural memory and Maurice Halbwachs’ collective memory, it may be argued the government’s official narrative of Rwanda’s idyllic history is a strategy for securing Rwanda’s future by linking it to an ancestral past. This narrative is largely supported by museums and the frozen memories of Tutsi returnees — to the exclusion of competing narratives — as materialised and publicly disseminated through traditional dances and tandemly pursued through private spaces through infiltration and closure of churches and mosques. However, per Rebekah Phillips DeZalia, a new version of history must successfully replace the former in the personal narratives of the people and not simply control public discourse through a top-down approach. Hence, the Kagame regime is also utilising a bottom-up strategy of infiltrating day-to-day, intimate spaces — one of which is religious spaces by both exploiting and curbing religious influence, appropriating religious language, and referencing the divine right of kings — all which are designed to sustain public confidence in the possibility of post-1994 genocide reconciliation and to realise Kagame’s vision of a unified and prosperous Rwanda. The regime’s strategy involves inverting the overall passage of personal memory to collective memory to history as well as repressing memory in official memorials by excluding narratives that contradict or do not legitimise the Kagame regime’s agenda. This tandem manipulation and suppression of memory is aided by the aggressive campaign of church and mosque infiltrations as well as closures, respectively, which may be functionally understood using Thomas Luckmann’s notions of invisible religion (Rwandan government) as competing with visible religions (Christianity and Islam). These government strategies are detrimental to the trauma-coping potential of visible religions and undermines reconciliation — highlighting the fragile architecture of Kagame’s authoritarian vision for peace.

Archaeology and Cultural/National Memory

Introduction. The relevance of the research is due to the fact that in the modern world, turning to critical historical events is not just a sphere of attention of humanitarian knowledge, but also an integral part of modern political processes. With the help of collective memory, ideas about the past are constructed in the interests of the present. Collective memory can be used for various purposes – both to strengthen socio- political stability and national unity, and to increase tension in society and exacerbate existing conflicts. In this regard, the study raises the problem of the formation and functions of collective memory, with the help of which social structures and means collective memory is transmitted to various groups of the population. Methods. The methodological basis of the research is based on the fundamental principles of objectivity and consistency. The following methods were applied: structural method, method of comparative and critical analysis. Information and target analysis of textual information (periodicals; Internet resources of “web memorials”) was also carried out. Theoretical justification. Currently, the issue of collective memory is widely discussed in scientific discourse. The beginning of the study of this problem was laid in the first half of the XX century by Maurice Halbwachs, who introduced the term “collective memory” into scientific circulation and considered memory from the point of view of its social nature. Collective/historical memory is constructed by social groups and has a complex structure, and the durability of collective memory depends on the stability of the group and the strength of the community that formed it. Researchers are faced with the task of resolving the relationship between collective memory and personal memories; how collective memory helps to lay the foundations of national identity. Results and its discussion. In the Iranian post-revolutionary society, the memory of the Iran-Iraq War performs a consolidating function. This statement is based on the assessment of the interaction of the Iranian authorities with the Armenian Diaspora. The participation of soldiers from the Armenian Diaspora of Iran in the war is seen as a key event from the point of view of uniting Christians and Muslims to fight against an external enemy and defend the motherland.

The idea of ‘collective memory’ features prominently in several disciplines but rarely in legal scholarship. Drawing on the work of Henri Bergson, Maurice Halbwachs and GWF Hegel, this paper seeks to present an account of collective memory that is relevant to discourse on law and policy. The paper uses the example of the policy response to the European sovereign debt crisis as a means of illustrating how collective memory of events in the distant past can shape individual behaviour and thinking. It argues that the current policy response can be explained, at least in part, by the influence on policy makers of the standard historical narrative of the Great Inflation of Weimar Germany. When, however, collective memory takes the form of Bergsonian ‘habit memory’, it can inhibit our efforts to resolve hard cases and the German government's opposition to the European Central Bank acting as a lender of last resort in the government bond markets neatly illustrates this point. If the debt crisis is to be managed effectively, policy makers must draw on Bergsonian ‘pure memory’ to explore the bounds of political and economic possibility.

The documentary feature of photography has been associated with social memory since its invention. This study aims to examine the photographs of Ara Güler, one of the leading names of Turkish photography, reflecting Istanbul tavern culture in the context of social memory. The relationship between photography and social memory is examined not only in terms of visual narrative but also sociologically. In the first section, social memory theory developed by Maurice Halbwachs, cultural memory theories developed by Jan Assmann, and then documentary photography, which is the type of photography connected with social memory, are explained historically. In the second section, the culture of Istanbul’s taverns is described. Istanbul, whose history goes back 3000 years, has a strong tavern tradition as it is a port city. In the second section, this powerful tradition is examined in the light of Evliya Çelebi’s extensive knowledge of life in 17th century Istanbul and specifically of the city’s traditional taverns. Also in the second section, after the history of alcoholic beverages and the culture of Istanbul’s taverns has been described, we examine Ara Güler’s photographs of the 1950’s and 1960’s taken in the taverns and “Koltuk Meyhaneleri” of Istanbul. It was concluded that these photographs taken by Güler are both a reference point and an important social memory record enabling future generations to remember these taverns which are now seen as a nostalgic concept.